Understanding the real purpose of setting up of a university

GOMBAK, 5 April 2016: “An educational institution is not a business of promotion to make profit, however, it is focusing on producing what an individual should be. The ultimate goal of the university is to transmit benefits in terms of knowledge,” said a lecturer of Usulluddin and Comparative Religion, Dr. Megawati Moris, in the forum entitled ‘Restoring the Purpose of University, at International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) recently.

Dr. Megawati Moris talked about the education system from Islamic perspective where it is not just about knowledge and functions itself but also involved integrating the minds and souls of the students.

“Th goal of the education system in Islam is a concern with the whole beings of the students,” said the lecturer, Dr. Megawati Moris.

She added, “Modern education system today is focused more towards academic freedom and the beginning of self-government in terms of speaking, establishing of standard, curricular, fees, and awarding of degrees. Plus the modern university is constructing the structure of a group of people in the university.

Not just that, the administrator of the university who runs the organisation should be efficient in fulfilling the national goal.

In the forum on ‘Restoring the Purpose of University’, Associate Professor of Centre For Advanced Studies on Islam, Science, and Civilisation, UTM, Wan Suhaimi Wan Abdullah, mentioned that educators or teachers should know the concept of man regarding the responsibilities of the teaching of the students in the university to avoid misleading them into a crisis of education such as writing of research papers and journals without any benefits for the particular students.

Meanwhile, what happened today, the educators are conducting research to make money, however, the reality of conducting research is to enhance learning, and improve the journal to gain better knowledge.

“We have many students who came from several institutions and we can observe from several universities that they did not learn anything after years of graduating. So, this is the crisis that we need to think seriously,” said Associate Professor Wan Suhaimi Wan Abdullah.

The intellectual Youth Club, IIUM, is taking steps to conduct a forum called ‘Restoring the Purpose of University’ mainly for university administrative staff and students for them to notice the loss of meaning of university itself since it seemed that people were doing their job without a common understanding of what the university is all about.

“We hope it can inspire the involved people to plan an action to reverse this trend, as our understanding of the university is for intellectual pursuit and inculcation of good virtues,” said President of the Intellectual Youth Club, IIUM, Muhammad Aswan Awang.***